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Western LRT Public Consultation Group Mtg #2

posted Nov 10, 2010, 6:15 AM by John Verbaas
Tues, Nov 9 was consultation meeting #2 (PCG #2) for local stakeholders on the topic of the selection of the route the LRT will take west of Tunney's Pasture.  The possible routes under consideration were described as well as the 9 criteria that will be used to make the choice of the preferred route.  The main routes are either (1) the current BRT route or (2) Richmond/Byron or (3) Carling Ave.  Each of these has several different 'sub-variations' all of which will be evaluated.  Many different north-south connectors will be considered in terms of options in routing between the current transitway route and the Richmond/Byron or Carling corridors (eg. Holland, Island Park, Kirkwood, Churchill, Broadview). These may include tunneling options (via cut and cover).  Some of the points mentioned by the consultants include:
  • their preliminary investigations indicate that more importance should be placed on accomodating thru' trips across the study area (from Algonquin College to Tunneys) than internal trips
  • Tunney's Pasture is more frequented as a destination by trips from the east
  • the government is drawing up plans for tripling the employment at Tunney's
  • dedicating 2 of the existing lanes from either  the Western parkway or from Carling is not likely to have much negative impacts on car movements
  • the western portion of Carling has more potential for intensification and development than the eastern portion
  • The Carling route is the longest (as the others are more on the diagonal)
Next steps:  Public Open House on Nov 29th
  • Next PCG meeting will be in Jan at which time the members will have an opportunity to state their ideas on how much weight should be assigned to each of the 9 evaluation criteria
  • The next report to City council is planned for Feb
  • A final recommendation on a preferred route is planned for April
Comments:  This looks like it will  be a difficult decision to make as there appears at this point to be no clear winner.  Each option has its stronger and weaker points.   Key will be how much priority is assigned to making a faster route in from outside the greenbelt vs enabling more ridership within the greenbelt.  Also key will be the accuracy of the estimations made of the differences in trip times on each of the different routes and the impact of those differences in trip times on the projected number of riders on the system.